Washington, DC: As housing costs continued to rise faster than incomes and the national economy remained weak, requests for emergency food assistance increased an average of 19 percent over the past year, according to a 25-city survey released today by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The survey also found that requests for emergency shelter assistance grew an average of 19 percent in the 18 cities that reported an increase, the steepest rise in a decade.
"The world's richest and most powerful nation must find a way to meet the basic needs of all its residents," said Boston Mayor and Conference President Thomas Menino. "To address hunger and homelessness we must all work together to confront our national affordable housing crisis and turn around our sluggish economy."
Participating cities were most likely to attribute hunger in their communities to high housing costs (16 cities), low-paying jobs (15 cities), unemployment (13 cities) and the economic downturn (11 cities).
"The world's richest and most powerful nation must find a way to meet the basic needs of all its residents," said Boston Mayor and Conference President Thomas Menino. "To address hunger and homelessness we must all work together to confront our national affordable housing crisis and turn around our sluggish economy."
Participating cities were most likely to attribute hunger in their communities to high housing costs (16 cities), low-paying jobs (15 cities), unemployment (13 cities) and the economic downturn (11 cities).